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How to use the ReadSpeaker Listen function

ReadSpeaker allows the text on the website to be read out loud to you. It provides you assistance if you have trouble reading text online. By having the text read out loud to you, you can understand the information on the website more easily. This makes the content more accessible and the website more pleasant to visit. As a user you don’t have to download anything.

How does it work?

Listen to the main content

You simply click the Listen button to listen to the webpage's content:

An audio player appears (see image below) and ReadSpeaker starts reading the text of the webpage out loud.

In the player you can:

Pause/restart the reading

Stop the reading

Use the progress bar to navigate in the audio

Adjust the volume

Click the settings icon to adjust the behavior of the service

Click the download icon to download the audio file

Close the player

Listen to selected text

You can select a part of the text that you want to listen to and then press the pop-up Listen button that appears next to the mouse pointer. When you click the pop-up Listen button, an audio player appears (see the image below) and ReadSpeaker starts reading the text you have selected.

Settings

In the settings menu, you can:

Choose whether you want to have the text highlighted while read

Choose whether you want the text highlighted on a word and sentence basis, sentence only, or word only

Choose style and colors for the highlighting

Choose whether you want the reading speed to be slow, medium, or fast

Choose whether you want the page to scroll automatically to follow the highlighted text

Choose whether you want the pop-up Listen button to be shown when text is selected

In a major victory for the Community Connect South (CCS) campaign, the Federal and State Governments in 2015 pledged to fund the widening of Armadale Road (Anstey to Tapper Roads). However, the job is only half done.

Build Armadale Road Bridge

We still need funds to link North Lake Road with Armadale Road and the Kwinana Freeway via a bridge and freeway interchange (Armadale Road Bridge). Cost: $160 million.

Without this, additional traffic from widening Armadale Road will spill into central Cockburn, further aggravating the already congested area and reducing connectivity between Armadale, Jandakot, Cockburn, Fremantle and the rest of Perth.

Building the Armadale Road Bridge will help save $1 billion in avoidable congestion costs by 2020*.

3 NEW ways to access/exit Cockburn Central train station

Building Armadale Road Bridge will also include the development of three new entry and exit points to the carparks east of Cockburn Central train station. No more waiting over 30 minutes to exit the train station!

This State election, tell the candidates to help fund Armadale Rd Bridge

89% of you believe traffic congestion at Kwinana Freeway and around central Cockburn is an issue

80% of you support building Armadale Road Bridge

So please, this state election, tell the candidates to help fund Armadale Road Bridge and fix traffic congestion in our rapidly growing communities.

Armadale Rd Bridge

Over 100,000 vehicles travel through Cockburn Central every day, resulting in traffic chaos and thousands of hours of wasted time.

Quality of life is deteriorating

Access to jobs and services is becoming more difficult

Social, economic and environmental costs are rising

The local economy is suffering

Something must be done now, If we don’t enable traffic to bypass the already congested central Cockburn precinct, it will remain gridlocked.

Benefits of building the bridge

Less time stuck in traffic

Easier access to Kwinana Freeway

No more delays exiting Cockburn Central train station

Easier access to public transport

Improved connectivity between people and jobs

Economic and social growth

Cockburn train station – no more delays!

The project also includes the development of 3 new entry/exit points to the carparks east of Cockburn Central Train Station. This means no more 30 minute delays exiting the station in the evenings after work.

This state election, tell the candidates to help fund Armadale Road Bridge.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Community Connect South?

Community Connect South is an initiative of the Cities of Armadale and Cockburn.

The project is seeking State Government funding of $160 million to build Armadale Road Bridge and reduce traffic congestion between Armadale and Cockburn.

What is the problem?

The intersection of Armadale Road, Kwinana Freeway and Beeliar Drive is the 7th worst congested road intersection in Perth, with no State or Federal plans to fix the problem.

Traffic on Armadale Road and around Cockburn Central has increased significantly due to:

economic investment

new land developments for a rapidly growing population

limited public transport services

residential, commercial and retail growth

Traffic is regularly gridlocked for large parts of the day, creating a significant impact on families, small business owners, commercial and larger industries.

What are the benefits of a new bridge?

Community Connect South is asking the Government to build Armadale Road Bridge to fix traffic congestion around Cockburn Central.

Could better planning by Councils have avoided traffic congestion around central Cockburn?

In 1997 the State Government planned to build a ‘deviation’ to reduce increasing traffic congestion around Cockburn Central. Nothing happened.

They said work would commence in 2007. Still, nothing has happened.

The Cities of Armadale and Cockburn have been actively campaigning to seek government funding to build the bridge and reduce the ever increasing traffic congestion.

We need your assistance. Tell the politicians this State election to help fund Armadale Road Bridge.

What can you do?

WA is heading into a State election on 11 March.

We need you to make traffic congestion a priority issue for candidates. Tell them how much time you have wasted stuck in traffic around central Cockburn and the effect this has on families, businesses and the general economy of the two cities.

Follow Us

City of Armadale

City of Cockburn

What you are saying

There is a groundswell of community support to get traffic moving along Armadale Road and at Cockburn Central and its growing stronger every day.

Here are some examples of what community members and leaders are saying about our campaign to get funds to solve traffic congestion.

Ross Robertson
Chief Executive Officer, Perron Group.

“Perron Group is the owner of Cockburn Gateway Shopping City and the Holland Park residential estate on Armadale Road.

The existing road network in the area does not support additional development at Cockburn Central. The proposed North Lake Road freeway overpass and the widening of Armadale Road will allow for regional traffic to bypass Cockburn Central and give us the opportunity to develop the Cockburn Gateway. The Armadale Road duplication will improve access to Holland Park and assist with our marketing of the estate.

The next stage of development at Cockburn Gateway will provide much needed amenity for the community including cinemas, a town square and a department store which will complement the Cockburn Central Transit Oriented Development and the new Aquatic Centre at Cockburn Central West.

Cockburn Gateway development is forecast to bring over 1,300 jobs to Cockburn Central and represents an investment of approximately $300M by Perron Group that will not occur unless the above road improvements are made.”

Nigel Satterley
Satterley Property Group

WA’s largest private land developer, Nigel Satterley, supports the cities of Cockburn and Armadale’s move to lobby for major road infrastructure to help ease the relentless congestion and improve business productivity…

Satterley Property Group CEO and Chair of the Residential Council of Australia Nigel Satterley said the State and Federal governments needed to put these two projects on their priority list, given the continued growth in the southern corridor. The transport and development industries are what is keeping this state alive now the resources boom has come to a halt, and without this infrastructure WA’s economy will linger. The governments must step up and continue to increase infrastructure spend in order to facilitate growth and give the economy the boost it needs going forward. Satterley Property Group has significant investment in this area of the southern growth corridor including Heron Park, Honeywood, Cassia estates.

John Fraser
Managing Director, Jandakot Airport Holdings (Pty) Ltd.

“Jandakot Airport is a significant infrastructure asset for Western Australia. The airport generates substantial economic benefits to both the State and local community.

The unsatisfactory state of the road network around the airport is a real threat to the success of those organisations located at the airport. Jandakot Airport Holdings therefore fully supports the Community Connect South initiative as it will provide an important component of essential road infrastructure in the region.”

Elton Swarts
Executive Chairman, Business News WA.

“I endorse the efforts to have Armadale Road upgraded to a continuous dual carriageway from the Kwinana Freeway to the intersection of Albany Highway, South West Highway and Armadale Road. The upgrading of Armadale Road is considered both a necessary safety measure and also an economic enabler.”

Community Connect South Is crucial for the continued development and growth of the Forrestdale Business Park, Armadale South Industrial area and the Armadale business community in general. It will allow greater access for businesses both coming into and out of the Armadale region.

Businesses located in the Forrestdale Business Park, such as my own, already account for 10% of the Armadale road usage and as the Business Park becomes fully tenanted, this will continue to rise as Armadale road is the principal route west across to the freeway and on to Kwinana and Fremantle. For my own business it means greater productivity through more efficient movement of our twelve crews across the metropolitan area. Improved productivity means a saving in costs and potential to create further jobs.

Ruth Spielman
Executive Officer, National Growth Areas Alliance

“The NGAA supports these Community Connect South projects because it will lead to increased productivity, economic benefits and a better quality of life for local residents. Across the country, NGAA areas, which include Armadale and Cockburn, continue to grow at double the national rate. This is compelling evidence that a dedicated national infrastructure fund is needed to provide growing communities with certainty on the timely delivery of the infrastructure and services they deserve – and that inner city residents take for granted.”